The goal of this project is to develop a powerful, automated reconnaissance script. A well-defined checklist and a robust workflow are the cornerstones of an effective script, ensuring comprehensive coverage and consistent, actionable results.

2. Objectives

  • Produce repeatable, high-quality reconnaissance data with minimal manual effort.
  • Cover the full surface area defined by scope (DNS, domain, IP ranges, application endpoints, and related assets).
  • Normalize outputs so downstream scanners / triage processes can consume them easily.
  • Trigger alerts or reports for critical findings and hand off non-critical findings for scheduled review.

3. The Checklist: The Backbone of Reconnaissance

Decide up-front what outputs we want; the checklist drives which tools to run and in what order. Typical checklist items:

Discovery

  • DNS records (A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS, SOA) and zone transfers where applicable
  • Subdomain enumeration (passive + active)
  • Wildcard / typo / permutation discovery (e.g., fuzzing, permutation lists)
  • Certificate transparency logs (discovering hostnames from certs)

Host & Network

  • Host resolution and IP mapping
  • Port scanning and service identification (fast + deep scans depending on scope)
  • Cloud metadata endpoints / cloud service discovery (if allowed)

Application & Web

  • Directory and file enumeration (wordlists, brute force)
  • Endpoint gathering (API endpoints, parameterized routes)
  • Robots.txt and sitemap analysis
  • TLS/HTTPS configuration and certificate analysis

Content & Code

  • Static code analysis (public repos, exposed source, client-side JS analysis)
  • Secret detection in files (API keys, tokens)
  • Open-source foot printing (GitHub, GitLab, package registries)

Vulnerabilities & Context

  • Known CVE lookup for identified software and versions
  • Package / dependency disclosure (from public repos or exposed package manifests)
  • Common web vulns detection hints (possible SQLi, XSS, LFI endpoints) from passive scanning

Extras / OpSec

  • Screenshots of web assets (visual triage)
  • Historical snapshot analysis (Wayback / archived content)
  • Owner contacts mapping (support, abuse, security contacts)
  • False-positive reduction heuristics (rate-limit, caching, fingerprinting)

4. Workflow: Orchestrating the Process

The workflow dictates the sequence of execution, handles dependencies between tools, and manages the output.

None
Simple workflow diagram

5. Summary

In summary, building a powerful automated recon script is a systematic process of translating a comprehensive methodology into executable code. By defining a rigorous checklist and implementing it through a structured workflow, we can transform raw targets into a prioritized, actionable intelligence report. The final step is closing the loop — ensuring these findings are delivered effectively to drive the next phase of security testing.